How The Other Half Live
by TinaMichelle21
Summary: Clarisse and Joe are happily married, but how will she cope with meeting Joe's family in England? Will they become one big happy family, or will it all just fall to pieces?
1. Home from Honeymoon

**Hey guuuuys! Ok so I know I already have an unfinished fic on the go and I do fully intend to finish it, but what can I say, I go where the inspiration takes me! And right now its giving focus to good old Joe and his fabulous, if slightly disfuntional family! **

**So here goes! Dont think it needs much introduction, hopefully it will all make perfect sense.**

**Usual schpeel, I own nothing cept the trials of my imagination! **

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"Its good to be home." Clarisse sighed as she and her husband of four weeks, stumbled through the palace corridors, seemingly unable to keep their hands off each other as their grips caused a tip of balance into various things.

"We could be anywhere and it would be home when I'm with you!" Joseph whispered between kisses as his hands crept underneath her jacket, causing her to arch her back into him before they suddenly thrust themselves apart, straightening themselves out just before Mia and Charlotte arrived on the corridor.

"Hey! You're back!" Mia grinned as she pulled them both into a tight hug. "Sooo how was the honeymoon?"

Both Mia and Charlotte smirked at the sudden blush on both Clarisse and Joseph's face as they battled not to make eye contact with each other let alone anyone else!

"Oookay so! I have a meeting with Parliament so I'll have to catch up with you two newlyweds later, Charlotte will fill you in on your messages, or rather fill Joe in seeing as though he's been bombarded lately!"

Joseph frowned as Mia skipped away, before turning back to Charlotte who was looking at him apologetically. "I'm sorry to say its true Joe! Your...son has been calling almost daily, your grandchildren have left numerous messages on your phone, and email and your...ex wife has been, rather vocal herself."

Joseph sighed and glanced from Charlotte to a confused Clarisse, she had known about his family for quite some time but neither had ever spoken about it openly.

"No Charlotte I'm sorry I, should have called them myself to explain I was just a little caught up in everything, I'll handle them and really I'm sorry you had to deal with them...particularly Evelyn I'm afraid she is very...vocal!"

Charlotte nodded and excused herself, leaving Joseph to sigh and take Clarisse's hand in his as they walked a little more soberly towards their suite. "I'm sorry darling I'm ashamed to say I had quite forgotten about my family and...their reaction to this."

"Joseph, dont be so hard on yourself, I'm sure they understand."

"Maybe so but I should have afforded them the respect of a phonecall, well, maybe not Evelyn, that battleaxe can find out anyway she wants im only sorry I missed the look on her face but...James, he's my son I should have told him!"

Clarisse paused as they stepped inside their suite, pulling on his hand to force him to turn towards her. "Stop beating yourself up about this. Now, realisation has hit me that these people are now my family, so the next step would be to contact them, then of course I would like to meet them sometime."

Joe smiled at her attempt to make him feel better, and enveloped her in his arms, placing a soft kiss on her lips. "I dont deserve you."

"Shut up! Now call your son, before you overthink it!" Clarisse kissed him firmly before slipping out of his arms and heading out towards the bedroom to change.

Joseph sighed and took a deep breath, dropping onto the sofa as he reached for the phone, without thinking he pressed the 'speakerphone' button and dialled the long distance call to England.

As the dial tone rang, unbeknownst to him Clarisse had slipped back into the room, and was leaning against the doorframe behind him, just watching...until the sound of a young woman's voice met their ears.

"Hello?"

"Molly?" Joseph asked in confusion as he sat bolt upright.

"Well well, if it isnt dear old Grandpa, you sly dog you!" Came the laughing reply from Joseph's twenty-two year old grand-daughter.

"Yeah yeah, is your Dad there?"

"Yeah he's just on his mobile with Alex, so you'll have to make do with me for a few minutes I'm afraid!"

Clarisse smiled as Joe laughed and shook his head. "Its nothing short of a pleasure kiddo, so you ok?"

"Hungover to hell, girls night out last night, bad move! But enough about me, whats new with you, besides giving us all the shock of our lives!"

"Thats actually why I'm calling! To beg forgiveness for not telling you!"

"Oh we all knew Grandad...well not about the wedding until it was in the paper but we knew really...although the look on Grandma's face when she saw the article was priceless!"

"Well aslong as you dont all hate me?"

"Would we ever! Oh! Dad's here so I'll pass you over, see you soon yeah?"

"Definately sweetheart love you!"

"Love you too Grandad!"

Joseph smiled at the hushed conversation between his son and grand-daughter before his sons voice could be heard more clearly.

"Hey old man!"

"Hey, look James I'm sorry its taken so long to call you and tell you all this but its just been so busy and..."

"Woah! Woah just, take a breath Dad! We were shocked yes, we wanna railroad you for not calling yes but, theres no need to be so defensive we arent mad at you! We're happy for you! Really, although the kids decided you cheated them out of a party so they'll be cashing in on that soon!"

Joseph and Clarisse aswell, couldnt help a laugh at this before Joseph continued. "Well actually Clarisse and I have just come to the realisation that we are in fact all one big happy family, she would like to meet you soon, hopefully we can get over to England at some point soon!"

"Yeah great! Molly is in fact bouncing up and down in glee at that suggestion and I'm sure the boys will be thrilled too."

Clarisse smiled at the laughter coming from her husband at this moment, the way he looked as if he could see his family in his minds eye right now.

"Well I'll see what I can do and call you with the details at some point."

"Excellent! Look, sorry dad but I'm gunna have to go get back to work before that eldest son of mine wrecks my business!"

"Oh ho! Left Alex in charge of the garage have we?"

"Only for an hour, but I'm sure he'd destroy it in seconds! Talk later Dad take care!"

"Yeah bye James, send my love to Beth and the boys will you?"

"Will do! Bye!"

Clarisse stayed hidden from view for a long moment as she watched her husband sitting in silence. Speaking with his son and grandaughter had put a sparkle into his eyes, it hid his guilt at not having seen his family in a long while, and yet none of them blamed him, in fact it was quite the opposite, they adored him, they were proud of him.

"Well that wasnt so hard was it?" She laughed as she moved back into the room, coming to stand behind him as she bent down and slid her hands over his shoulders and down his chest.

"Went better than I thought I must admit."

"Did you honestly think they'd be mad at you?"

"They sort of have a right too dont you think."

"I think, you think too much."

"This coming from you!" He laughed as she smiled and dropped her forehead to his shoulder briefly, before kissing his cheek.

"Darling, they've clearly seen the bigger picture here, they arent mad at you for not involving them in the wedding, because I can honestly bet my life on the fact that I'm sure they're just happy, that you're happy."

Joseph smiled and reached up to take one of her hands, lifting it to his lips to kiss it softly. "I really cant wait for you to meet them, they're going to love you!"

"Oh I hope so darling...I really hope so."

**Soo? Anyone wanna review? It would totally make my day! **

**xXx**


	2. Packing

**Hey all! thank you all soooo much for your fab reviews, totally made my day! So here's some more, hope you enjoy it! and please leave a review :) **

**As usual I own nothing except my insanity! **

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Nervous was an understatement. Terrified would be much more accurate.

The anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach had started late into the night after Joseph had called his son. Laying in the bed beside her husband it had dawned on her that pretty soon she would meet the most important people in Joseph's life, and the thought of what she would do if they didnt like her was very much bothering her.

Two weeks had passed since that call and time had done nothing to supress her anxiety, in fact it had done the complete opposite! Even now as she stood in her bedroom, deciding what on earth to take with her to England, she was still very much tense.

"Why don't you just have Olivia pack your things as she usually does?" Mia asked as she sat on her grandmother's bed rifling through Clarisse's make up case and testing various bits of it.

"No I want to know what I'm taking, know what I need and make sure I have it all right in my head."

"I dont see why you're freaking out so much they're just people!"

"They are not just people they are Joseph's family and they're important to him! Therefore their reaction to me is important too I want them to like me."

"They will like you!" Joseph laughed as he walked into the room, making both women jump as he proceeded towards them.

"How can you be so sure?" Clarisse questioned as he kissed her briefly and moved to hang up his jacket.

"Because they will! They're not psycho's or freaks and they dont judge people before they get to know them! You'll be fine!"

Clarisse simply looked at him as if that made no sense to her at all, and returned to sorting her things. They were leaving for England the following morning and she felt nowhere near prepared.

"Hey! Joe, you havent told me much about your family...what are they like? What do they do?"

"Well, my son James is a mechanic, owns his own business and his wife Beth works with him too she takes care of the formality stuff, paperwork and filing and what not...James was never exactly bothered with that side of mechanics, he just likes being under a car!"

"That sounds cool, reminds me of you! Does your son ride motorcycles too?"

"oh yes, he has quite the collection actually! Its expanded since the kids got into it aswell."

"How many grandchildren do you have?" Mia asked as she glanced to her grandmother. She knew Clarisse was listening, although she continued to fuss with her suitcase.

"Three. Molly is the eldest, she's 22, 23 this year and she's currently working for one of the best salon chains in the North East of England. Actually she is the current reigning Hairdresser of the year, quite an award so I'm told! Alex is the second eldest and he's 21, works with his Dad in the garage business. And finally Matt, 19, he's training as a fitness coach."

"Wow! You sound really proud of them all! Especially Molly, I could have sworn I saw you smile just a bit more when you talked about her!" Mia joked as Joseph shrugged a little and began to rifle through the array of Clarisse's belongings that were currently strewn across the bed.

"Ah yes, that has often been commented on actually. I guess I've always been a little closer to Molly than I am with the boys, maybe its because I was there when she was born I dont know we just are! Plus the fact that she's my little spy in the English camp serves to wind up my ex-wife to no end...which of course is utterly hilarious to the both of us!"

Mia's laughter at this statement was halted by one simple look from her grandmother but Mia was not about to let the matter drop completely just yet.

"Your ex-wife...whats she like?"

Now it was Joseph's turn to laugh as his wife glared once more and took the bottle of perfume he was currently fiddling with and placed it in her case.

"Oh Evelyn, she is...now how to put this...she is...spawn of the devil himself, sent to earth to suck the life out of every living creature that crosses its path!"

"Oh! Joseph! Must you be so ridiculous!" Clarisse replied as her grandaughter continued to laugh at her new grandfather's words.

"Just you wait! You'll meet her, then you'll see for yourself!"

"Oh god I never thought of that!"

"Relax!" Joseph smiled as he briefly rested his hands upon his wife's shoulders. "She's harmless really! Just incredibly annoying! So much so that people actually avoid her in the street!"

"They do?"

"Yes Mia they do! Erm, have you ever seen that british sitcom, 'Keeping up Appearances'? The main character is called Hyacinth Bucket but she makes people pronounce it 'bouquet' because she has severe dillusions of granduer and annoys the living daylights out of everyone she meets...well put it this way, my grandchildren nicknamed their grandmother Hyacinth a long time ago!"

Even Clarisse couldnt help but laugh at this statement, and finally she began to relax if only a little. Still she was plagued with an underlying fear that her husband's family wouldnt take to her, and now upon hearing how close Joseph was to his grandaughter only served to open up a new can of worms. She was already mentally prepared for some collective resistance, some half hearted general unrest at recent events but, having a grandaughter herself she knew how strongly one's family could influence one's thoughts.

And Molly could certainly influence her grandfather.

Clarisse knew in that moment that if she could win over Molly, the rest would be easy. Knowing that Molly didnt have a good relationship with her grandmother meant that she was likely to be even more protective of her grandfather, thus rendering Clarisse at a sever disadvantage. Or, young Molly could take the other road, and accept Clarisse as a member of this family, solely to do what she and Joseph did best, annoy the hell out of his ex-wife!

"Well! I think that any person related to Joe has gotta be great so I dont think you got much to worry about Grandma!"

Once again Clarisse merely raised her eyebrows at Mia as she jumped from the bed, having realised the time and unfortunately she had a dinner engagement at the Italian Embassy, leaving her grandparents alone for the first time all day.

"She's right you know...they will like you."

Joseph watched as she sighed and dropped the last few odds and ends inside the last of her six suitcases.

"I wish I shared your sentiments darling."

"What is it that you're so afraid of?" He asked quietly as she looked to him briefly before turning to the balcony doors.

"If they dont like me, it will affect our relationship Joseph."

Sighing he stood and walked towards her, sliding his arms around her waist from behind as he pulled her against him. "They will like you, I know they will. Even if they didn't it wouldn't matter."

"Yes it would and you know it."

"Alright maybe it would but I'd work it out."

"You say this now Joseph but.."

"No buts!" He replied as he turned her in his arms to face him. "I love my family, I won't deny that. But I love you too, and I can't live without either of you. So I will find a way to have you all."

She smiled a little and hugged him to her. "I love you Joseph, I just dont want anything to hurt you."

"For the millionth time, you have nothing to worry about! They're gunna love you!"

As he silenced any protest she had with a deep kiss, she finally relaxed. Afterall, Joseph knew his family better than anyone, and instead of focusing on their influence on him, the realisation hit her that he surely had more influence on them.

**xXx**


	3. In at the Deep End

**Hey all! Finally I have an update for this fic! The writer's block lately has been horrific! and this chapter was, for some reason, the hardest chapter ever written lol! so apologies if it sucks, it does get better...promise ;)**

Joseph couldnt help but laugh, he really couldnt! They'd been in England a grand total of 3 hours, and after brief stop at their hotel to unpack and settle in, they now found themselves sitting in the car outside of Joseph's family's house. And once again, Clarisse was nervous.

Perhaps what was the most nerve shredding to her was for the first time in lord knows how long, Clarisse was unable to hide behind anything, least of all her security team...mainly because she didnt have one right now! Surprisingly it was Joseph who had insisted that no security accompany them to England on this particular trip, insisting the former queen would be more than secure with him alone.

And right now, that was what haunted her the most.

They were sitting in their rental mercedes, Joseph waiting patiently for his wife to collect herself, Clarisse attempting to regain control of the battle going on inside her head.

"Maybe we should have called first?" Clarisse suddenly declared, only increasing the smile on her husband's expression as he shook his head.

"Oh no, I'm not giving any of you a chance to chicken out and besides, I know that bunch too well if I'd given them notice they'd have put on some stupid act and I'm proud of them as they are."

"Fair point." She replied as she checked her make up for the millionth time and took a deep breath. "Alright. Lets do this."

Twice she tried to chicken out as they walked up the driveway, but eventually he managed to get her to the door, surprising her further by simply walking straight through it without even knocking!

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU LOT ABOUT LOCKING THIS DOOR! ANYONE COULD JUST WALK RIGHT IN!" He shouted as they stood in the hall, a silence descending across the house before they appeared.

All five of them, in a blur of activity, appeared from seemingly nowhere.

Instinctively Clarisse stepped back, initially shocked at the clash of colour and speed and noise, until finally order descended and the former queen felt the gaze of five inquisitive pairs of eyes upon her.

"Clarisse, allow me to introduce the other most important people in my life..." He smiled, taking her hand tightly in his to at least attempt to stifle the nerves he could visibly see growing in front of him. "My son James, his wife Beth, and my three lovely grandchildren, Matthew, Alex, and Molly."

Within seconds Clarisse's nerves had disappeared. James, Matthew and Alex were instantly discovered be just like Joseph, utterly charming. Beth had straight away hit it off with the former queen, proving to be a master conversationalist, finding a multitude of common interests within the first five minutes of discussion. But it was Joseph's grandaughter Molly that proved the biggest hit, immediately she'd gone out of her way to make her new step-grandmother feel welcome. Clarisse noticed this, of course she did, and whilst she was apreciative of the effort she knew that it was merely in support of her grandfather, she made the effort for him and no one else but it didnt matter, the effort was there nonetheless.

Before she knew it Clarisse found herself seated around the kitchen table, happily listening and watching as this new group of people flitted around her so naturally. Particularly Joseph who seemed to slip into his role as head of this family within a split second.

"So whats new?" Joseph had asked, rousing Clarisse from her thoughts as her gaze darted back to him. Whilst James, Matthew and Alex had seated themselves at the table, Joseph, Beth and Molly were busy gathering refreshments.

"Absolutely not a sodding thing!" Alex had answered in reply to his grandfather's question, earning a scepticle look from Joseph as he stood and leaned forward on the work top that divided the kitchen from the seating area.

"You actually expect me to believe that nothing at all has happened since I last saw you...seven months ago!"

"Nope, our lives are boring!" Matthew added as shrugged, before suddenly remembering something that would constitute some gossip. "Although Molly did break up with Adam!"

Clarisse, like her husband, instantly diverted her gaze to young Molly who froze her movements and shot her brother a glare that told him in no uncertain terms to belt up!

"Well its about time if you ask me!" Joseph replied as Molly rolled her eyes and threw a pack of biscuits hard at her brother.

"Nobody did ask you Grandad! I know you never liked him but you dont need to sound sooo pleased about it!"

"Sorry Molly but you know he was never good enough for you! What happened anyway?"

"Nothing much I just finally realised what an idiot he was!"

Throughout this exchange Clarisse's gaze had remained fixed upon her husband. She couldnt quite get over how different he was in these surroundings. He was so...relaxed, very unlike his usual wound up stance, even when he was around her he was always at least a little tightly strung, always on alert but here...here he was just...a father and grandfather spending time with his family. And she had to admit, she enjoyed this side of his personality.

Although within seconds Clarisse was about to see her husband return to his highly strung stance.

"You going to tell him the real reason you broke up with Adam!" James had said, earning himself a glare not only from Molly, but from his wife and sons aswell. Clearly this was something they all deemed unnecessary for Joseph to be privvied to.

"Whats that?" Joseph spoke quietly, his head turning slowly to his grandaughter as she eventually turned away from her father. "Molly?"

"Its nothing really!"

"I'll find out you know I will, one phone call to your grandmother and she'll practically break her neck to give me the gossip so you might aswell tell me yourself!"

"Well, you know he was always a little...temperamental...when he'd had a drink?"

"Please god dont tell me he took that temper out on you!"

"It was just the once I finished him straight away I swear!"

Joseph sighed, his fists clenching as nobody in the room knew quite where to look, yet at the same time they couldnt tear their eyes from the altercation in front of them.

"Are you honsetly telling me that your boyfriend hit you?"

"Now you see this is exactly why I didnt tell you when it happened you'd have freaked out and probably killed the guy and why bother? He's just a lowlife arsehole that doesnt deserve my time so I dealt with him myself! Rest assured Grandad I hit him back and dumped him within seconds! So stop worrying about me...you taught me well, I can take care of myself...and I can fight my own battles."

Joseph had instantly been put in his place, by his own grandaughter. Clarisse had never seen anybody placate Joseph as quickly and efficiently as this, perhaps even not herself. Nobody would have dared to argue with him, not even dare to try and reason with him, especially if his mood was great enough but Molly, she had a power over this man if ever Clarisse had seen it, and this only served to open a can of worms for the former queen.

Would Molly use this power over her grandfather to side with her new step-grandmother, or would she use it to get between them.

Shaking these thoughts from her mind Clarisse was brought back down to reality by the sudden movement of both Joseph and Molly as they moved to take their seats at the table. And what surprised her further was rather than take the vacant seat to the right of Joseph as he sat to his wife's right, Molly instead opted to take the vacant seat to Clarisse's left. Newest wave of Clarisse's were once again, officially deleted.

With a completely genuine smile, Clarisse reached out beneath the table and slipped her hand into Joseph's, rewarded as he raised it to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on her fingers. Nobody batted an eyelid as the usually quite uptight former queen allowed her new husband to pull her closer, his arm draping around her shoulders as for the first time in her life, perhaps with the exception of Mia, Clarisse allowed herself to be completely relaxed in the presence of ordinary people.

"So, its Thursday which means but one thing, Pub Quiz at the Voyager in an hour...who's in?"

**So anyone for a review? xXx**


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